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From: Sarah Davis
Category: Art
Date: 04 February 2005
Dan Coombs has gone from junk assemblages to paintings with photos and childrens toys stuck to them. Five (why all the same size?) of them are shown in the squared off gallery space of the Approach (I think I preferred the old asymmetry). They are stunningly ugly. A particular success is one with Buffy the Vampire slayer repeated (repetition of image ala Warhol being a constant in the paintings) and a grotesque plastic hulk screwed to the centre of the canvas. Around the edges are a contemporary version of drip and swirl painting. Paint effects are another theme, and combined with the collage of pop icons they bring to mind a crazed student in an art college, taking experiment with materials to some logical extreme. Because or despite all their deliberate affronts they hold the eye and I liked them. A hint of Schnabel's bad taste is in the air, and with it some of the thrill of unafraid art.
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